Discontinued The Grasshopper

[mario]

Got my replacement Ti body in and it’s working 100% right after the first 3 bowls

Edit: no need to mess around with it, clean threads and contacts, etc., this one just worked right away

Is that a replacement that you purchased or a warranty replacement? (I'm still waiting for my spare body order)

 

[newVaper420]

@vapviking the problem with your statement above is that it’s dependent per situation. The moment you start to have a problem, they won’t respond. That’s the issue. They were super fast in responding to me when they didn’t have to really do anything.

For instance, on July 6th they claimed that my Hopper was finished, but it wasn’t as they didn’t ship it for 12 days after that message. And they wouldn’t respond to any of my messages.

Sure, when things aren’t going well, I may seem like an echo chamber. You can check my post history. I had the same experience with VapeXhale. And you know what, they came on the forums. They called me directly. They tried really hard to resolve their issues and make things better for their customers. It was a really shitty situation but they plowed through.

I think Grasshopper, as much as I love the unit, is hindered by its failed components, failed engineering team, and failed customer service.

Yes, this is a small niche of the whole world of grasshpppers, and yes the people who post on the Internet are the ones who generally complain, but again, go look at my post history and you will see, I praise companies whenever they do the right thing.

In fact, when they got me the unit on July 20th, I definitely praised them for trying to do the right thing. But then, sending me 2 broken bodies, putting me to the back of the line, and then not responding to my last email, I mean, how can anyone defend that?

Yes, I know the unit is amazing when it works. But that’s just it. They’ve had it just as long as I’ve had it now almost. So what good is a unit if you can’t use it? Someone said to me, oh just it lightly. Nope, not me. If it doesn’t work at the level I need it, then it’s not for me.

Anyway, I spent money to ship it back, I spent money to buy new batteries which they said I needed (I didn’t), and now they are not responding. It’s pretty absurd.

Anyhow, don’t mean to offend anyone. And as I stated, the unit itself, when it works is the best portable unit I’ve personally tried. But, reliability is king. And the Mighty wins that for me every time.

 

[vapviking]

@vapviking the problem with your statement above is that it’s dependent per situation. The moment you start to have a problem, they won’t respond. That’s the issue. They were super fast in responding to me when they didn’t have to really do anything.

For instance, on July 6th they claimed that my Hopper was finished, but it wasn’t as they didn’t ship it for 12 days after that message. And they wouldn’t respond to any of my messages.

Sure, when things aren’t going well, I may seem like an echo chamber. You can check my post history. I had the same experience with VapeXhale. And you know what, they came on the forums. They called me directly. They tried really hard to resolve their issues and make things better for their customers. It was a really shitty situation but they plowed through.

Sorry, but I don't see any problem with my statement above. Of course it is only about my own situation, but isn't that pretty much what we're all doing, writing about our experiences with the vape (the subject of this forum) and sometimes the company? I did express that I think some folks are posting repetitively. It's my opinion that that practice is boring and contrary to the forum rules, but it's not that big a deal. I have no desire to check your post history. If some are posting repeatedly just to get HL's attention, I believe they're wasting everyone's time and I doubt this is the way to get satisfaction from HL.

So my personal viewpoint is just that, one person's perspective. I indeed had some frustrations with HL in earlier days (check my post history!). And, as I said, my experience is skewed as I did not need HL through the cruel winter of '18. But since receiving my original Hoppers (pre-order) I will say that every interaction I've had with HL (through 12 RMA's) has ended with me being a satisfied customer.

Hey, sorry if this comes off as argumentative. My post was not about you in the first place, I have no particular issue with you! Hey! I'm a fellow Mighty lover!

 

[newVaper420]

Hahahahaha all good bro :-). Have a great one! :-). Enjoy your vaping today :-)

 

[mario]

Well it's official, my Hopper doesn't quite do anything anymore. I can turn it up to 5 and the ABV comes out green as I put it in. The Hopper feels hot and the mouth piece gets hot but I obviously not as hot as it is supposed to be. Still waiting for that spare body I ordered, hope that fixes the issue.

 

[Rel2018]

Well it's official, my Hopper doesn't quite do anything anymore. I can turn it up to 5 and the ABV comes out green as I put it in. The Hopper feels hot and the mouth piece gets hot but I obviously not as hot as it is supposed to be. Still waiting for that spare body I ordered, hope that fixes the issue.

That sucks dude !
Do you get any clouds ?
And did you order a new battery as well ?

 

[mario]

I have 4 batteries and tried them all.

I didn't get any visible vapor at all. I'm going to clean it again and keep tinkering. But I think the body is toast. I'll have to wait and see when I get the new body in the mail.

 

[Rel2018]

I have 4 batteries and tried them all.

I didn't get any visible vapor at all. I'm going to clean it again and keep tinkering. But I think the body is toast. I'll have to wait and see when I get the new body in the mail.

Never had visible vapor or just now ?
Did you ever give it ISO bath ? ( this is not a recommendation )

 

[mario]

It was working fine for the past 2 months. Then I noticed it wasn't getting the abv very dark at 5. And this week it doesn't seem to do anything on 5 either. It's like the heater just slowly died off.

 

[Hammahead]

Does it feel like the airflow is more restricted than it was before? If yes, maybe try compressed air, and/or generally have a look at the Hopper Fixes http://fuckcombustion.com/resources/grasshopper-fixes.11/

 

[newVaper420]

I have 4 batteries and tried them all.

I didn't get any visible vapor at all. I'm going to clean it again and keep tinkering. But I think the body is toast. I'll have to wait and see when I get the new body in the mail.

This is exactly what happened to me in San Francisco. It was just dead. It would feel like it should be getting hot, but it never did. And the blue light came on instantaneously. And the compressed air didn't work. :-(

 

[mario]

Mine still has red light heating up time. Then eventually changes to blue in about the expected 5 seconds. But then it doesn't seem like anything is happening.

 

[newVaper420]

Mine still has red light heating up time. Then eventually changes to blue in about the expected 5 seconds. But then it doesn't seem like anything is happening.

I got it to show the red lights for a little bit of time as well. Anyhow, none-the-less, sounds like you need an RMA :-(.

 

[Vaporific]

While it may be a small sample size after reading the last four pages of posts after a long lurking hiatus, lots of us - myself included - are still experiencing issues with our Hoppers. And most of the issues deal with electrical - then again there's not much else to the design which should keep things simple but... While I love mine, and I'm in-process of initiating warranty service for the first time, issues still persist with new and old units. The batteries are somewhat of an albatross as I've had a few bad ones that didn't hold much of charge. I'm not an engineer but the electronics are far from perfect. Same can be said of their customer service and I'm dreading sending my pre-order Ti into the abyss. The overall design, portability, ease of use and cleaning are what keeps me liking it so much. We shall see...

 

[MoltenTiger]

While it may be a small sample size after reading the last four pages of posts after a long lurking hiatus, lots of us - myself included - are still experiencing issues with our Hoppers. And most of the issues deal with electrical - then again there's not much else to the design which should keep things simple but... While I love mine, and I'm in-process of initiating warranty service for the first time, issues still persist with new and old units. The batteries are somewhat of an albatross as I've had a few bad ones that didn't hold much of charge. I'm not an engineer but the electronics are far from perfect. Same can be said of their customer service and I'm dreading sending my pre-order Ti into the abyss. The overall design, portability, ease of use and cleaning are what keeps me liking it so much. We shall see...

Yeah and on the other hand I'm down a Tubo X but after nearly 3 months, the hopper is the same as day one.
Truly a luck of the draw type of situation I guess.

I've got the new ModPod Labs Stem Pod ordered, looks like we're finally seeing some serious competition to the hopper.
But the hopper is better than the Tubo, I imagine it'll beat the SP too.

It really sucks they haven't delivered a robust GH iteration... But then again, how are others going with brand new hoppers?

Once they actually have a robust product, if they can manage it, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts. It's been a bit boring as it is. The hopper is so much better than most portables.

 

[fogbank]

I've got the new ModPod Labs Stem Pod ordered, looks like we're finally seeing some serious competition to the hopper.
But the hopper is better than the Tubo, I imagine it'll beat the SP too.

I’ve used my StemPod a few times. Interesting device and a lot of fun to mess around with, but I could never imagine it being a Hopper replacement. It has great potential as a pure convection vape in a 510 format, but the Hopper already trumps it in ease of use, speed, and stealth. The StemPod does win out on battery life, and some could argue that the form factor is stealthier than the Hopper’s when in use (resembling an e-juice vape rig). It also extracts well and produces strong medicating effect.

Still...the Hopper prevails

 

[MoltenTiger]

I’ve used my StemPod a few times. Interesting device and a lot of fun to mess around with, but I could never imagine it being a Hopper replacement. It has great potential as a pure convection vape in a 510 format, but the Hopper already trumps it in ease of use, speed, and stealth. The StemPod does win out on battery life, and some could argue that the form factor is stealthier than the Hopper’s when in use (resembling an e-juice vape rig). It also extracts well and produces strong medicating effect.

Still...the Hopper prevails

nice, quality input. Seems like my expectations are in check.

I mainly got one as it is user repairable, and obviously quite durable.

It'll probably be nearly redundant with my Tubo in all honesty, but until that's working and when, it'll be a nice toy to have

 

[snorcan]

I’m getting flashing red and blue lights but only on occasion... when I leave it overnight or recharge, it seems to work normally... but then eventually I’ll get the cop lights happening... should probably initiatiate an RMA. Two year old+ grey Ti unit

 

[Vaporific]

I’m getting flashing red and blue lights but only on occasion... when I leave it overnight or recharge, it seems to work normally... but then eventually I’ll get the cop lights happening... should probably initiatiate an RMA. Two year old+ grey Ti unit

I've never had cop lights in 2+ years, only red and occasionally prematurely due to a couple bad batteries (out of 7 total - so far). I use Nitecore chargers and have never used the supplied charging cable or the new one HL made nor would I give them much more of my money - except for batteries and perhaps a silicone tip.

Which, by the way, I used for the first time in a long time - I don't use one usually - with a small glass pipe and had the temp at 4.5 (my sweet spot without the tip is 3.7-3.9) and it was good but the unit ran hot, understandably so. However a good thing seems to have happened: the draw resistance since then has been somewhat improved! I wonder if there were some particles in the fan housing even though my grind is not that fine but after a while some shriveled AVB could possibly escape through the bottom of the chamber.

 

[mario]

Well I have a tracking number for my body now, should be here on Thursday. I'm really hoping this fixes my issue Then I just have to send back a faulty body and not do an entire RMA

 

[kbrown5523]

Well I have a tracking number for my body now, should be here on Thursday. I'm really hoping this fixes my issue Then I just have to send back a faulty body and not do an entire RMA

That's great they did that for you, I asked them to do that for me but they made me send my whole unit in again, after it had already been gone for months in rma. They SAY they'll send it back this week after having been gone almost a month this time.

 

[mario]

Well this is a spare body that I purchased on the site. So it isn't an RMA or anything. Not yet...lol

 

[CarolKing]

I got this today from Hopper Labs.

Hi Carol,

Thanks for taking a minute to read about our latest progress and developments. In July we successfully sustained a combine 200 units a week of assembly and warranty. Our new heating component assembly line is operating smoothly paving the way for higher volumes in the coming months, and the addition of more automation is making the whole process faster.

Our primary goal for the coming months is to increase the throughput to service warranties and new orders more quickly. We already succeeded in ramping up production of the new in-house processes to a base level. We now are pushing to add 5-10% to that capacity every two weeks. There are easy gains by having the existing machines operate for more hours each day and complex ones including the addition of further automation.

Over the last nine months, we have scaled up our efforts to automate the process. We have drastically reduced manufacturing errors and increased throughput without adding overhead cost. Two current projects involve using custom vision systems to detect part orientation and then perform a task on them and advance to the next part. We now have machines operating that handle much of the testing and sub-assembly.

There has been a delay with machined parts coming in. We currently hold a sizable inventory of 98% of the metal parts required to assemble the unit but have been waiting on two small items necessary to finish assembly of some devices. If you are waiting on an order, this is the holdup. We have been pressuring the, and these parts are expected to arrive in 20-30 days. Until that time we have a small supply source that is providing components resulting in slower assembly times.



The rate at which the backlog of warranty is being serviced is primarily limited to the number of techs we can afford to employ. We are working to make the process faster and ensure they have the available parts needed to fix units. To be fair to everyone we always try to service units in the order they were received. We know this can be frustrating which is why we have made thebody component of the device available for purchase. If you need help determining if a new body can help with your hopper issue, please contact support. Although the intro price is now over, we are offering 15% off these through the weekend to allow anyone who needs one to get it for a discount.

Use code: body15
Here is a quick breakdown of what devices are shipping now.


Stainless Hoppers - Currently servicing March-April Orders due to the parts supply shortage. Expect to be moving faster on these units in the next 30 days.
Titanium Hoppers - Almost entirely caught up.
Color Hoppers - Depends on the color. Generally serving April-Current.
HT Hoppers - 2 to 3 days ship time when available.

Accessories - We are currently only out of Bronze and Blue PFEs which are expected soon.

Stainless Case and External Charger - Current estimations are October and/or the end of the year. Design and development are complete we are working on production and packaging for these products. Priority of labor is still being given to warranty and assembly speed.

Visit Our Website

Boulder, CO

 

[seriousTone]

Sounds like they’re doing everything they can and it’s ashame the parts or breaking for whatever reason. I imagine for them it’s very frustrating.
I feel for them. I’ve worked two manufacturing jobs, both for rifle companies. One was very popular and couldn’t keep up with demand - people were waiting on parts and orders for 6 months to almost a year. Very frustrated customers and I would have been too but it wasn’t like they were sitting around not cranking out parts almost 24/7 like people for some reason assumed. By their name you would think the company and machine shop was larger but CNC machines and employees are expensive and it takes time, plus to quality control it.

I think Hopper Labs is similar...actually I know they are. They created a company from nothing not too long ago and have to build it up and it takes time and money.

I don’t work for them just spewing my opinion from my experiences. Don’t own a hopper but I’m hoping they work out the kinks in the coming months and catch up so I can finally order one.

 

[CarolKing]

Early on Hopper Labs needed to send out beta units to a lot of folks. Yes, a vaporizer for free. Find out where the problems were. Then they could have suspended manufacturing before they started selling these units. After finding the problems they could have started up again. They should have been better made to begin with. It was a product that was not ready for prime time.

Hopper Labs promised too much too early on. They wanted the money folks were sending them for their start up company. All those folks spending $100 got a vaporizer early on. You were paying to be a beta tester. Now three years later, they are still trying to get it right. It’s been a frustrating experience for all.

I don’t think mine was made with their new system. Mine was fixed in Oct. I use my GH occasionally. Mainly when I need stealth. I will assume it will fail eventually then I will send it back in. I know the overhead cost of continuing to send units in probably put a major dent in any profits. We are on year three with all this.